Press Releases

ARLINGTON, VA - The National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) has partnered with the U.S. Marine Corps to launch a new program that will provide respite care to Marine Corps families with children with special needs. NACCRRA Exceptional Family Member Program Respite Care (EFMP Respite Care) will initially launch in San Diego, California, and will serve Marine Corps families in the Greater San Diego area. Additional NACCRRA EFMP Respite Care launches will take place throughout the United States after the New Year.

"We are so pleased to be able to provide this much needed program to Marine Corps families with children with special needs," said Linda Smith, Executive Director of NACCRRA. "NACCRRA EFMP Respite Care will help many such families receive a well-deserved break, and rest assured during that break knowing that their child is being well cared for by highly qualified providers trained in special needs care."

Through NACCRRA EFMP Respite Care, eligible Marine Corps families can receive up to 40 hours per month of respite care services for children at no cost to the family. Respite care services in the San Diego area will be provided by qualified caregivers recruited and trained in special needs care by the San Diego YMCA Childcare Resource Service (CRS). The San Diego YMCA CRS - which is one of the largest comprehensive Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) in the country - has more than 10 years experience in providing respite care to San Diego county families who have children with developmental disabilities.

NACCRRA EFMP Respite Care will initially be available to those families stationed at the following locations: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, and Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. After the new year, the program will be available to eligible Marine Corps families in other locations, including: Northern Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

In order to be eligible for NACCRRA EFMP Respite Care, Marine Corps families must be enrolled in the U.S. Marine Corps Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP), be impacted by the Global War On Terror, and have a child under 18 years of age with at least one qualifying condition as diagnosed by a health care professional.

Marine Corps families who are impacted by deployment, but are not enrolled in EFMP can obtain respite care services through any installation's children's, youth, or teen program resource and referral office.

For more information about NACCRRA EFMP Respite Care or any of NACCRRA's other military programs, visit here.